Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 1998
Tornado Watch 73
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 28, 1998, 8:30 PM EST for 17 counties in Florida. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 28, 1998, 8:30 PM EST (01:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 1, 1998, 2:00 AM EST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
Counties Charlotte County, FL, Citrus County, FL, Collier County, FL, DeSoto County, FL, Glades County, FL, Hardee County, FL, Hendry County, FL, Hernando County, FL, Highlands County, FL, Hillsborough County, FL, Lee County, FL, Manatee County, FL, Pasco County, FL, Pinellas County, FL, Polk County, FL, Sarasota County, FL, Sumter County, FL
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 32 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:33 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
Warnings issued inside it
7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 28, 9:07 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hernando | 48 min |
| Feb 28, 9:14 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Pasco | 46 min |
| Feb 28, 11:35 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough | 45 min |
| Mar 1, 12:28 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hillsborough | 47 min |
| Mar 1, 12:42 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Polk | 63 min |
| Mar 1, 12:53 AM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Polk | 47 min |
| Mar 1, 1:01 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Hardee | 49 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 32 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1852 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -8 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 516 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 56 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 104 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 136 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.9
- Supercell composite
- 3.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
457 WWUS9 KMKC 010050 SEL3 MKC WW 010050 FLZ000-010700- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 73 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 750 PM EST SAT FEB 28 1998 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF WESTCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING FROM 830 PM UNTIL 200 AM EST. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 50 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 70 MILES NORTH OF SAINT PETERSBURG FLORIDA TO 45 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF FORT MEYERS FLORIDA. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. DISCUSSION...UNSTABLE AIRMASS HAS SPREAD INTO WESTERN AND SOUTHERN FL WITH EVENING SOUNDINGS INDICATING CAPES TO 2500 J/KG. WIND PROFILES FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE STORMS WITH STRONG MID/UPPER JET ACROSS NRN FL. CURRENTLY STRONG/SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OFF W COAST WILL BE MOVING INLAND BY 02Z WITH ISOLATED SUPERCELLS AND TORNADOS ALONG WITH LARGE HAIL POTENTIAL AS WET BULB ZEROS ARE FAVORABLE. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035. ...HALES 285,0815 255,0804 255,0822 285,0833
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 1, 12:00 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Brevard, Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, Osceola, Palm Beach and 1 more | 4 hr |
| Mar 1, 3:15 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades and 20 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 1, 9:00 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Broward, Collier, Glades, Hendry, Martin, Miami-Dade and 3 more | 6 hr |
Nearby
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.